No. 16 Women’s Tennis to Play No. 1 UNC, No. 6 Duke

CLEMSON, SC – The 16th-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team will travel to North Carolina to take on No. 1 North Carolina (17-2, 3-1 ACC) and No. 6 Duke (13-3, 4-0 ACC) this weekend. Clemson (9-5, 4-1 ACC) and North Carolina play at 1:00 pm on Saturday in Chapel Hill, and the Tigers and Blue Devils play at noon on Sunday in Durham, NC.

Live scoring will be available for both matches, with links at ClemsonTigers.com

Clemson enters the weekend riding a five-match winning streak overall. Duke has won four straight, and North Carolina is coming off a 4-3 loss to No. 27 Virginia over the weekend. The Tigers have already played six top-15 teams this season, and three squads among the top-ten.

Clemson holds an all-time record of 37-17 against the Tar Heels, but is just 19-26 against Duke. Last season, Clemson fell, 6-1 to then-No. 3 Duke and 5-2 to then-No. 8 North Carolina.

Beatrice Gumulya won her singles match in each of the matches against these opponents last season. Gumulya’s win on court four a season ago against the Tar Heels came against Gina Suarez-Malaguti, who is now playing No. 1 for the Tar Heels and is ranked 9th nationally. The wins came as part of Gumulya’s 11-match winning streak to end the 2012 season.

The matchups feature several of the nation’s top players. Eight of the nation’s top-50 singles players are a member of one of these three clubs.

Clemson, with Yana Koroleva (16th), Liz Jeukeng (42nd), and Gumulya (49th), is tied with North Carolina with three. Overall, five Blue Devils are among the top-125, and four Tar Heels make the cut.

Koroleva has won seven singles matches in a row, six of which have come in straight sets. Also playing well is freshman Tristen Dewar, a winner of five in a row and seven of her last eight, all in straight sets.

After playing these two on the road, Clemson will play four more regular season matches, with two at home and two on the road. The ACC Championships will be held April 25-28 in Cary, NC.